Pataudi’s ill health defers Soha's promotional plans

Legendary cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, has been in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi for two weeks now. Though Soha has confirmed that his condition is stable now, he still needs to remain in the hospital.

Saif and Soha Ali Khan’s father, legendary cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, has been in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi for two weeks now. Though Soha has confirmed that his condition is stable now, he still needs to remain in the hospital.

The veteran cricketer had contracted a lung disease and was having difficulty breathing. He had to be injected with steroids and intra-venous antibiotics to clear his respiratory tract. While Soha and her mother Sharmila Tagore, have been on hospital duty since he was admitted, Saif has also joined them now.

The incident prevented him and girlfriend Kareena Kapoor from celebrating her 31st birthday, which was yesterday, in a grand manner. But mostly, it has affected Soha’s plans to promote her upcoming film, Soundtrack, which releases on September 30. The actor is on hospital duty from 7 am to 7 pm everyday, according to friends, who confirm, “Her dad had seen the promo of her film, and was very emotional about it.”

Soha says, “I took inspiration from my dad, who despite his visual disability in one eye, was a good batsman and an able captain of the Indian cricket team for a while.” Soha plays a hearing-impaired person in Soundtrack, which is an official adaptation of a Canadian film called It’s All Gone Pete Tong.

Soha recounts, “Dad had lost vision in one eye at the start of his cricketing career when he was only 20. So he would cover it with an eye patch and play.” However, as the story goes, the legendary cricketer felt the patch distracted him, so he began to play without it. She adds, “When one has limited vision, you can’t drive or play sports as judging distance is not easy. You don’t get depth and perspective with sight in just one eye. But he overcame his disability and trained himself to play.”